strange and random happenstance

In the days before the internet you'd be channel surfing, usually late at night, and find something you really liked and you'd watch as much of it as you could before you fell asleep because you never knew if you'd see it again let alone find out what it was called. After the successful airing of Colin Firth's Pride and Prejudice, on a cable channel no less, lots of shows that were originally shown on Masterpiece Theatre started showing up on cable channels late in the night to the delight of Anglophile insomniacs and night owls everywhere. Of course I'd catch them and wouldn't find out what they were until years later. Sometimes it was because I was able to accurately describe a scene to someone and they'd fill me in on what it was, hence the miniseries about deflating sheep turned out to be Far from the Madding Crowd with Colin Firth's younger brother Jonathan. But most often it was eventually an actor I recognized that got me to finally put a title to a favorite movie or series. This is how I learned the title of Louisa May Alcott's The Inheritance, because of Greg from Dharma and Greg. Also it's fabulous but nothing like the original story if you watch it and yes, that is Chilton from Gilmore Girls. So all I had to go on to find the title of The Buccaneers was that it stared the actress from Pauly Shore's Son in Law. To more knowledgeable people, that would be Carla Gugino, to me it was Crawl's love interest. I might have seen that movie a few too many times. So once I finally knew the name of the miniseries I obviously bought it, no questions about watching it first. This is everything an Anglophile growing up in America wishes for, that they go to England and are wooed by the most eligible of bachelors. Oh the cast, Michael Kitchen, Jenny Agutter, Connie Booth, Mira Sorvino, Greg Wise, and James Frain before he made it his lifelong ambition, or so I assume, to be in every science fiction show I've ever watched. And the houses! Yes, they DO film at Castle Howard, made immortal by Brideshead Revisited. Oh dear, I think writing this has convinced me I need to go watch this miniseries immediately, it's been too long.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brideshead Revisited, Carla Gugino, Castle Howard, Colin Firth, Dharma and Greg, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, Jonathan Firth, Pauly Shore, Pride and Prejudice, Sheep, Son in Law, The Buccaneers

In the fall of 2008 I was in the midst of my worst semester ever at school. I was overextended, overstressed, and hadn't really slept in a long long time. Forget about having time to actually read a book, despite trying to carve out time to read the ARC of The Temptation of the Night Jasmine. But there was one thing I wasn't going to miss, and that was the chance to meet Lauren Willig! Since 2008 I have been lucky enough to go to several of Lauren's signings in the Chicago area; in 2010 for The Mischief of the Mistletoe, in 2012 for The Garden Intrigue, later in 2012 for the Romantic Times Convention, and in 2013 for The Ashford Affair, but I will still remember the first time. I remember almost missing the turn off to the library and doing a slightly illegal sharp turn. I remember that the library was having a book sale and I picked up a biography on E.M. Forster. But most of all I remember that despite how awesome the other authors were, and are, my mom is a huge fan of Julie Hyzy because of this event where I was introduced to her, the audience was there for Lauren. While searching my email recently for Lauren related topics, I actually found the note I sent to my friend from the aforementioned "A Subway Interlude" regarding the Cozy Library Event in Gurnee and thought it might be fun to publish it here to get my account without the fog of seven years obscuring odd details. Though I couldn't help myself from adding an addendum or five... and fixing some egregious spelling errors.

"So, now that I'm home and don't have to peck little letters out with my thumbs on my phone I can tell you the whole awesome story. (I had an LG Vx9900 that flipped open to a full keyboard that I thought was the bomb, oh how Apple technology has changed me.)

So, author event in Gurnee for this society called the Cozy Librarians, and Lauren was a guest among 7 other authors (actually 8, because apparently I can't count). They did a little, here are all the authors brief bio, then they let each author talk for about 7 mins. Lauren talked about going to Harvard and how she was so sick of Historians and their little historian world and how she tried to think of a fun mad-cap romp she could write to divert herself that would make her laugh and she thought of spies and masked men like Zorro and the Scarlett Pimpernel, and how the Pink Carnation made it extra girly and therefore extra funny. Also she hated how "accurate" history novels were and by writing as Eloise she could get some things wrong. She said she thought that this would easily go in her writing trunk of abandoned work, which also contained a Nancy Drew spoof from when she was 9 and had wrote a story with 2 girl detectives, because 2 is better than 1, which she sent off and got a nice rejection letter. So then as luck would have it, she got published. And then she was thinking "How else could I make my life harder, I know I'll go to law school too!" So she wrote the next two books and in essence had 3 jobs at once. And then she went to New York (because it is her homeland, she is someone who can't even drive a car) where she was actually spending her billable hours at the law firm that hired her writing book 4 (The Seduction of the Crimson Rose). And when book 4 came out she was pretty sure they figured out what she was really doing, but then she quit, and now she's writing only and she's just loving it.

Then book signing, where we actually got to talk to her for awhile (Huyen went with me). So first off, she thought I was just amazingly organized cause I had post-it noted and wrote who the books were too, and I said that happens from being in a family of publishers. (PS, everyone should do this, it makes spelling mistakes not happen and just helps the authors so much.) Also she mentioned a British comic I should read but now I forgot the name, so I'll have to look it up (it's Annie Tempest's Tottering-by-Gently series, go check it out). So I said, cause she saw I had the new book (aka The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, Pink Carnation Book 5), I wondered if the house in the new book, Girdings was based on Castle Howard, she said totally, that and a mix of Blenheim, and I said I totally got that, what with the mural in the entrance way. We then talked a bit about the original Brideshead mini series. Leading to me saying that my dad always wanted to live in a little shack on the grounds of Castle Howard until recently when he changed his mind and would be happy with the chickens at Chatsworth. And then we talked about how amazing it is that the Duchess of Devonshire is one of the Mitfords, and I went on to ask if she knew about her being one of the greatest art collectors in the world, especially of Lucien Freud, and she had the painting of the Queen that the Queen rejected, and she didn't know that. Then I mentioned that she actually sells her books online signed and I got one for my dad, and she said she'd heard about her online store, and then she asked if I knew if it was still being operated as a farm after the death of her husband and I said that I believe it was (still is even after her death). 

Then we went on to talk about her website, and then she actually connected me with my posts, and later said I have to keep posting and must tell her what I think of the new book (I hadn't finished yet, read above, too much school), I mentioned I loved the 4th and she said she thinks that's her favorite and I said it's mine because the characters are less goody goody. So back to website, then I said I only keep up with her and Shannon Hale for authors websites, cause I think it's great how her site is so interactive, and she asked who Shannon Hale was, but then already connected her with Austenland, and I said she should so check out the Bayren books being re-tellings of Grimms, which lead to her mentioning this old Tor book she had, and I said funnily enough my Dad is an agent for a Tor author, Mike Norman, who writes these Haunted non-fiction books who is actually having a book signing today, but I came here, and she said that was great that I came here (which she even wrote in my book) and it turns out that she interned with Tor way back and asked if I had even been to their offices in the flat-iron building and I said sadly I hadn't but my dad had many times, and then she was talking about how slow the elevator is there, like 15 mins for a ride, and then she mentioned how Tom Doherty was pro-casual, and liked walking around in his undershirt, and I said he's a good friend of my Dad's (to this day) and that he just refurbished a gorgeous old Victorian in Brooklyn. Following which it was time to get Huyen's books signed, which I mentioned was my master plan, to get all my friends reading her books (and it still is), and we commented on how we couldn't find Huyen's 2nd book so she'd just have to get the three signed. (We eventually found Huyen's copy of The Masque of the Black Tulip and got it signed at the event we went to for the release of The Mischief of the Mistletoe two years later).

Also around this point a few people behind us started wandering away, cause I mean, she signed 7 books for me then 3 more for Huyen plus we were being really verbose (yes, I still feel bad about co-opting Lauren, but when you're having fun time seems to slip away, and I should note, the true fellow Lauren enthusiasts are always so nice and accommodating and it's wonderful to talk to them before events). Then Huyen asked the question she wanted to ask which was, was Richard Selwick based on Cary Elwes as Westley from The Princess Bride, and I said actually I called her before she read it to watch for it, and we both instantly agreed on it, and Lauren said she totally based it on him, with the blond hair and the little black mask, and that we were the first 2 to get that (though there's a bit of Sean Bean as Lovelace in there as well with Anthony Andrews on the side). And then I said, and how sad about what Cary's become, and she was all, yeah did you SEE him in Ella Enchanted! Which I then said too bad we can't like go back in time and get pretty Carey Elwes for the movie adaption, and I mentioned I'm just always casting in my head (as by now you all know), and she said she rarely does it, except for Sean Bean as Vaughn, even though he's the wrong "coloring" that was her intent. Then we said our good bye's, nice to meets, and write on the website.

Lots of fun, she was very lively, especially considering she had a 5 am flight and stayed up till 2 at a friend's party, and now I have lots of pretty signed books, and I'm glad to learn an author I like is nice. And as Huyen said, she seems like the type of person who we'd hang with and would be our friend. -Liz"

So there you have it! An interesting albeit rambling insight into the first time I got to meet Lauren. Side note, I wrote this as soon as I got home after a three hour drive in each direction and then a shopping extravaganza at the outlet malls on the state line, so hopefully the narrative flow can be forgiven somewhat for the complete and utter lack of polish.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: An August Adieu, ARCs, Book Signing, Cary Elwes, Castle Howard, Cozy Library, Deborah Mitford, Ella Enchanted, Illinois, Lauren Willig, Pink Carnation, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sean Bean, Shannon Hale, The Princess Bride

The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton
Published by: Viking Books
Publication Date: 1938
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition then one reviewed)

Nan doesn't want a governess. Her sister Jinny didn't have to have one, neither did the Elmsworth girls, and the irrepressible Conchita surly never needed one, not that she would have accepted her fate as Nan does. But Nan's mother is convinced that Miss Testvalley will be able to not only help Nan, but get some good British refinement that is lacking in her little American savages and perhaps help as an entree into New York society. But New York society isn't ready for these girls. Conchita makes a match with a third son in a great British family and it gives Miss Testvalley an idea. If New York society is so shocked by these young bloods, why not take them over to England. Give them a season where anything they say or do is unique and alluring compared to the dull English roses the aristocracy is used to.

In no time at all the girls are settled into the highest echelons of the British Isles. Jinny is married to Lord Seadown, the Brightlingsea heir and older brother to Conchita's husband. Both the Elmsworth girls, while not in the peerage, make very advantageous marriages monetarily and politically. While Nan surprises everyone and marries Ushant, the Duke of Tintagel, the wealthiest man in England. Yet Nan isn't happy. It becomes clear that her husband married her not for wealth or even for love, but because she was naive as to what a duke was and wasn't hunting for a title, that and her youth makes her malleable. Though the longer she is married to Ushant, the more she realizes that their marriage is a mistake. This realization has nothing to do with the fact that she is falling in love with the young Guy Thwarte. She would be fine if Guy never knew of her love as long as he was happy and she was free once more.

Back in the days before DVRs and having anything you could possibly imagine to watch just at the flick of a switch, spending the midnight hours surfing the channels always yielded the most interesting results. On channels like A and E, before they became the home of reality programing, you could often find interesting miniseries airing at anytime of day or night. It was on this channel that I first saw Nathaniel Parker deflate a sheep in Far from the Madding Crowd. I'm not sure what channel it was on that I first stumbled across The Buccaneers, but it was definitely in one of these late night surfing sessions. Much like how I caught Louisa May Alcott's The Inheritance in bits a pieces, it wasn't until years later when it was released on DVD that I got to watch the series in all it's glory. The cast alone is a who's who of British and American actors, from the omnipresent James Frain (seriously, he was recently in Grimm, The White Queen and Sleepy Hollow AT THE SAME TIME), to Greg Wise and Michael Kitchen to Mira Sorvino and Connie Booth. This miniseries had it all, including Castle Howard!

At the time I was unaware that the miniseries was based on an incomplete manuscript of Edith Wharton's. I mean, I knew it was Wharton, I just didn't know the she died before she could finish it, much like Elizabeth Gaskell and Wives and Daughters. I do remember stumbling across the "finished" book one day at a used bookstore and picking it up. I mean, seriously, how could I NOT buy it? Firstly, I liked the miniseries, and secondly, well, it had a John Singer Sargeant painting on the cover that happens to belong to the Devonshires. What I didn't know until I was researching the book before I read it was that the miniseries and this specific book have different endings and that both endings are kind of reviled by fans of Wharton. This made me wonder if perhaps I should have read the incomplete manuscript, but then, even knowing that there was no ending, I might get that unexpected sadness that I did when reading Wives and Daughters. Also, having seen the miniseries didn't spoil me for the book. Is the wrong ending maybe acceptable because at least it is an ending? The fact that it ends "happily ever after" is what gets most Wharton fans... it wasn't her style. Edith's MO was more, and everyone is sad, some are dead, there is no striding happily into the sunset. Yet maybe it was this change up that made the book appeal to a wider audience? But what would Wharton herself think? There's a part of me that really wants Martin Scorsese to get his hands on this and come up with a bleaker ending...

The problem with a book with two authors writing the same book more then fifty years apart is the question where does Wharton end and Mainwaring begin? To me, there's a complete seismic shift at the beginning of the third section, wherein Nan hijacks the book as the heroine she was always meant to be. The book definitely falters here because until now the focus of the book had been more egalitarian. Nan taking over, while she is our heroine, is unable to shoulder the narrative much as she is unable to shoulder her duties as a duchess. How can we really connect with someone who doesn't know her own mind or even who she is? While humans are more realistic when faced with internal conflict, her conflict combined with her lack of personality made my growing love of the book falter. How can she love that Guy has this connection to his ancestral home yet not see the same connection in her husband? Is this a flaw of Ushants? Or is it a flaw in Nan? Looking to see where Wharton's writing ceased, it appears to be long after these problems start cropping up in the book. Wharton was just roughing it out and because she herself changed the feel and style of the book Mainwaring was never able to get The Buccaneers to rebound and seemed to be so desirous of tying things up quickly that the book ended abruptly and the reader is left with the sad realization that this could have been a true masterpiece if Wharton had lived.

While the book does have it's problems because of the situation it was put in because of Wharton's death, the overarching theme of the power of art and literature is captivating to me. The character of Miss Testvalley with her connection to both art and literature through her cousin Dante Gabriel Rossetti, breathes life into the book. The characters that are most alive are those with an appreciation of the beauty of the world. In fact, this might be why Nan loves Guy over Ushant, despite them both having this underlying connection and obligation to their ancestral homes, Ushant views his stewardship as an obligation and a duty, not a privilege bound in love. He never appreciates the art for it's beauty and ability to transport you, he views it as part of the house. It is this ability of beyondness that Nan talks about, this transcendence that can be found in art and literature that made me sit up and say yes! You need to look beyond, you need to expand your horizons to make yourself all that you can be. This is not an insular little world we live in, no matter how hard you might try to make it. Go out and read a book, go to a museum, capture some beauty for yourself and you will maybe find a little happiness, because as Wharton shows us, art is life.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Castle Howard, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Downton Denial, Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Gaskell, Grimm, Louisa May Alcott, Miss Testvalley, The Buccaneers, The Inheritance, The White Queen, Wives and Daughters

Today I continue the discussion with Lauren about very important topics... such as Toby Stephens... you know once he's mentioned it's a serious thing indeed. As are panniers and knee breeches... now if we were to combine the two... I think we might be onto something!

Question: It's been hinted at that the Selwick's proclivity to spying didn't end with Richard. Will there ever be a book at successive spying generations like Baroness Orczy did with the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Answer: Selwicks would do rather nicely in the Great Game, don’t you? Or dashing about right around World War I. And while we’re at it, Mrs. Selwick-Alderly’s past could do with some looking into…. Right now, though, my plans lean more towards going backwards in time rather than moving forward. Time permitting, what I’d really love to do would be a series about the elder Uppingtons, set during their youth in the 1770’s. Think Amelia Peabody and Emerson, only in panniers and knee breeches. And nothing at all like them, character-wise. Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the best comparison, but you get the idea.


Question: What do you make of the split in the Colin/Eloise fanbase, where there are those who love them and those who hate them? (Personally I love them).

Answer: There was a while where I was very perturbed by it and considered cutting out the Colin and Eloise portions, or spinning them off into a series of their own. But, at this point, the Eloise and Colin action is, for me, so intertwined with the books that I decided I just had to go with my own instincts and keep them on board. I really enjoy having them to use as a foil for the historical story. Those who don’t like them can always just skip over their chapters. So everyone wins.


Question: Will Eloise finally write her dissertation by the end of series? Or do you think she might write a popular bestseller?

Answer: Poor Colin. His feelings would be so hurt if Eloise hit the New York Times list before him. I will say that I do have the feeling that Eloise is going to finish her dissertation (unlike her creator!), but other than that, my Eloise and Colin plans are very open-ended. Although I do have some ideas for them, I feel like I’m learning about them and their future as we go along. Rather like real life….


Question: The author Philippa Gregory has been known to say that she doesn't read any other historical fiction, feeling that it would taint or influence her writing if she were to decide to visit that time period in future novels, but you seem to read a lot of books, in and out of your genre. Do you view your approach works better for you then if you were to live in a bubble?

Answer: Eeek. I can’t imagine writing in a bubble. So much of what I do is in dialogue with both those authors who came before me and those who are writing contemporaneously with me. No matter what, my voice is my own, but I feel like my books are the better for being informed by what others have written and are writing.

Question: What reading recommendations would you give to those who love the India of your book?

Answer: For me, the seminal India novels have always been M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions and Shadow of the Moon. They were the novels that first introduced me to colonial India, followed by Valerie Fitzgerald’s Zemindar and Katherine Gordon’s Peacock Quartet. The only caveat is that all of those books are set a good fifty years later than Blood Lily, and, as I discovered during my research, there’s a world of difference between India in 1804 and India in 1857. For those who love the India of my book, I’d recommend William Dalrymple’s White Mughuls. It may be non-fiction, but it presents a vivid and detailed vision of that earlier India.

Further reading:
– Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe’s Triumph (1803)
– Thalassa Ali, A Singular Hostage (1838)
– George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman (1839)
– George MacDonald Fraser, Flashman in the Great Game (1857)
– M.M. Kaye, Shadow of the Moon (1857)
– Valerie Fitzgerald, Zemindar (1857)
– Meredith Duran, Duke of Shadows (1857)
– Katherine Gordon, The Peacock Quartet (1857)
– M.M. Kaye, The Far Pavilions (late 19th C)
– E.M. Forster, A Passage to India (1920’s)
– Barbara Cleverly, The Last Kashmiri Rose, et al (mystery, 1920’s)
– M.M. Kaye, Death in Kashmir (mystery, 1940’s)
– Paul Scott, The Jewel in the Crown (1940’s)


Question: You have such a strong fan base and make yourself available to fans via you website. While there is the uncertainty of the future of publishing due to the rise of technology, which in itself is a topic for long discourse, how do you feel about the fact that technology is making contact between writers and fans easier than ever before?

Answer: I have very mixed feelings about the internet. On the one hand, it’s an amazing privilege getting to hear from fans, and to have real back and forth about the characters and plots. Trust me, it’s rare to find that many people in one’s daily life willing to indulge one in going on about the characters and the stories. These interactions have enriched the books and provided me with hours of happy warm and fuzzy feelings. Not to mention that I get great book recs from readers. After all, if they like my books, they clearly have good taste, and therefore I know that I’m going to like the other authors they read. It’s very convenient.

On the other hand, on a more meta level, all of the internet promotion that writers are now expected to do—the blogs, the interviews, the constant commenting— takes a good deal of time away from the actual writing. I also worry sometimes that too much exposure to an author might impact how one experiences her books. I wouldn’t want someone’s impressions of me to affect how she views my characters.

But am I willing to give up all this communication technology because of those scruples? Hell, no. I have too much fun with the News posts and the book recs and the Facebook feed. Like everything else, technology is a trade-off, some good, some bad. And I guess we’ll just have to see how it all plays out….


Question: What with teaching at Yale and your writing commitments, will you be going on any extended tour to promote The Betrayal of the Blood Lily?

Answer: Ah, the extended author tour: ten cities in ten days, veins running coffee, runs in my last pair of stockings. I have many fond memories. Sadly, with the rise of the internet and the decline of the economy, big author tours have pretty much fallen out of favor with publishers, since they’re expensive and so much can be done on-line these days. Between that, my teaching commitments, and my Pink VII deadline, I’m staying fairly close to home this year. I’m giving two readings in my hometown of New York, one in New Haven, and one in Scottsdale, Arizona. I might also make informal visits to D.C. and Boston, but that’s all that’s on the table right now. Which is a pity, since—all coffee aside—I genuinely do get a huge rush out of an author tour. It combines two of my favorite things: hamming it up at a podium and meeting readers.


Question: Now, I swear I didn't write this question, even though it's exactly what I was thinking: Will you ever come visit awesome library groups in Wisconsin? Or Wisconsin at all... there is the willingness to drive?

Answer:I would love to! Twist my arm?

Question: Finally, a few silly questions... If you could choose any English Estate to live in where would you set up house? Chatsworth? Blenheim?

Answer: Oh, goodness, how to choose? For some reason, even though I used Blenheim as a model for Girdings House, it’s never quite done it for me. Castle Howard rises quickly to the tongue, but I don’t know if I want to be all the way out in Yorkshire. All those moors…. So I think I’ll go with Longleat, in Wiltshire. Among other things, it’s so nicely convenient to Bath.

Question: Seeing as I've been doing my dream casting for your books the past few weeks, is there any adaptation that you thought the actor was exactly as you pictured them? Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy? Or perhaps Anthony Andrews as the Scarlet Pimpernel?

Answer: Thank you so much for the dream casting! As you may have noticed, I am dreadful at the whole actor game. I can never remember actors’ names, so it’s always, “Oh, wait, that guy—no, the other one”, by which point people usually get bored and wander away. So I very much appreciate your generously sharing your cinematic repertoire.

In my opinion, the hands-down best casting over the past couple of years has been Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson as Rochester and Jane in the BBC Jane Eyre. Both epitomized my image of those characters. It’s rare to get a dual bulls-eye like that.

Thank you so much, Miss Eliza, not only for all the casting, but for having me over to your site today! It’s been a pleasure.


And I have to honestly say it's been a pleasure for Lauren to be here as well! So generous of her to take the time to answer all my questions, even the slightly silly ones. But more importantly, and I hope you all agree, it's wonderful to admire a piece of literature and to find out that the author is just as interesting and funny and thoughtful as you'd imagined them to be. So I hope you have a little more insight into a favorite author of yours, or, if you've never heard of Lauren, or have, but not picked up one of her books, I hope this inspires you to strut over to the fiction section, work your way to the end of the alphabet, she's there right after Waugh and Wharton!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Blehneim, Castle Howard, Eloise, India, Jane Eyre, Lauren Willig, Longleat, M. M. Kaye, Philippa Gregory, Pink Carnation Spotlight, Ruth Wilson, Scarlet Pimpernel, Selwicks, Toby Stephens, Wisconsin

Happy Halloween Everyone!!! So, I think I should add, for the sake of honesty, that I actually own a lot more costumes then the ones shown. I just thought, to not disrespect that most frightful of holidays I would only include ACTUAL Halloween costumes...not say, my Lord of the Rings costumes with full elf ears, or my Firefly get up, I have the complete Kaylee outfit...so only Halloween, because otherwise this would be a long post indeed!

80s punk, and the return of part of my Pippy gear! Also I cut my hair, MYSELF, about 10 minutes prior to this...so that would be how I ended up with such funky hair for my passport 6 months later...

BEST HALLOWEEN EVER, it was Absolutely Fabulous (haha)! You can't believe how nice people are to you when you're Edie and Patsy! The free booze and cigarettes. I could not even guess how many people we posed for pictures with. That's Hunter S. Thompson, apparently he had a thing for Patsy...

My last year of college totally sucked and I needed a quick yet evil costume, my friends were throwing a theme party, the orcs had taken over Rivendell (literally, their co op was called Rivendell and we had orcs) and I wanted to vent my rage. I went as a Vengeance Demon. Lots of fun and scary too. Note the all out vein action.

So obviously everyone should have a Harry Potter costume. Really they should, you don't realize how useful they are! Plus, aside from the cloak, the individual parts can be worn at any other time without looking like a schoolgirl. This is me with my cat, who would so go to Hogwarts with me...TAKE THAT all my friends who say they're take owls cause it's like email.

Better shot of the costume taken this summer...yes I do occasionally wear it...so?

The year of, wear whatever you find at the thrift store in Ohio. Totally fun, and I took to wearing the wig wherever. Also a kid at the door when I was handing out candy said I looked like his teacher...hmm...what school does he go to?

Back in Ohio a year later I was able to convince my friends (Sarah and Matt) for a group costume...aka Team Zissou. Easy, fun, cool pics, and best of all, we went to an aquarium for cool photoage. As to me pointing to England...I think we were playing the where would you rather be, and I was watching Brideshead Revisited and I am pretty sure I'm pointing at the precise location of Castle Howard, I did study the map for awhile to be sure...

Team Zissou takes the riverboat down the Amazon...no that is not a person you see to the right...and it doesn't look like we are below water level....

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:05 AM 3 comments  

Labels: Ab Fab, Brideshead Revisited, Buffy, Castle Howard, Edie, Halloween, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, Hunter S. Thompson, La Croix, Ohio, Patsy, Pippy Longstocking, Rivendell, Team Zissou, Vengeance Demon